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US futures pointed to a flat open (SPY -0.03%) as market players remained on edge ahead of next week's Fed policy decision and seemed reluctant to place big bets ahead of monetary policy decisions. ADP employment are up 8 K above what was forcast.

European markets are mixed. The DAX is higher by 0.17%, while the FTSE 100 is leading the CAC 40 lower. They are down 0.15% and 0.03% respectively.

Global equities remained in a holding pattern near record highs as investors waited for key labor market data from the U.S.

Oil prices were under pressure on Wednesday, nearing a four-week low after data overnight showed another massive increase in U.S. crude supplies.

U.S. stock futures look a bit soft.

The Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have now slipped in two consecutive trading sessions. U.S. stocks had been on a massive winning streak before they lost.

Looking at the last three columns (below), the first one (Actual), is what was reported this morning. The second column (Forecast) is what analysts had forecast and the third column is the previous report. Full calendar HERE.

A string of remarks from policy makers since the end of February have spiked the odds for a rate hike from near 20% to above 80%, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.

What Is Moving the Markets

(Reuters) - A government watchdog group, Public Citizen, said on Wednesday it will ask lawmakers to investigate whether billionaire investor Carl Icahn should have been subject to lobbying disclosure laws when he advised President Donald Trump to overhaul the U.S. biofuels program.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When the bosses of some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies headed to Washington in January to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, it had all the makings of a potentially hostile meeting.

(Reuters) - Elon Musk, who heads Tesla Inc and Space X, will take part in a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and business leaders Wednesday on the administration's plans to boost infrastructure spending, a White House official told Reuters.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne's attempts to find a partner were frustrated for a second time in as many days on Wednesday, as Volkswagen (VW) joined General Motors (GM) in dismissing any interest in talks with their smaller rival.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The House Republican health insurance plan suggests health insurance after Obamacare will be less affordable, investors, insurers and industry sources said on Tuesday, raising questions about future enrollment and insurance company participation.

(Reuters) - Airbus is considering doing away with one of the hallmarks of its A380 superjumbo, a "grand staircase" echoing the era of cruise ships, as it looks to revive sales of the world's largest airliner, industry sources said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive officer at DoubleLine Capital, said on Tuesday he expects the Federal Reserve to begin a campaign this month of "old school" sequential interest rate hikes until "something breaks," such as a U.S. recession.

As 2016 drew to a close, even as US bank stocks posted some of the biggest gains since Mr. Trump got elected, it seemed their counterparts down-under aren't doing that well! All signs point to a huge weakening in Aussie bank stocks in 2017. But the bigger question is: Will we hear a loud boom as banks down under go bust?

THE OMINOUS SIGNS

There are ominous performance lags in Australia's premier stock index, the S&P ASX/200 (AS51:IND), when compared to the iShares MSCI ACWI ex-US ETF (ACWX:US). If you plot the two over a graph and analyse performance over a 5-year period, you can clearly see that they are moving in harmony - not necessarily in convergence, but definitely in the same direction.

These lock-step moves indicated that there was a strong co-relationship between the two comparators. The equity market down under seemed to be working in tandem with most of the world. All was well until now!

A shorter term (1-year) view of these same two comparators reveals a whole new story, however. While the lock-step journey continued until around mid-December 2016, with the AS51:IND even outperforming the ACWX:US for a brief while; all that came to an abrupt end by mid-January 2017. There now appears a clear divergence, with the AS51:IND racking up a -26.88 differential as of the time of this writing.

The tight co-relation between the ASX and the rest of the world is clearly decoupling!

THE UNDERLYING CAUSES

The underlying causes for this apparent divergence can be summed up in two words: Australia's banks!

Australia's financials index (AXFJ), which comprises over a 3rd of the ASX 200, had been ticking along merrily over the last 1 year or so, gaining a healthy 12.22 ...

Own gold bullion coins as insurance, to reduce counter party risk and to preserve wealth

Conclusion - Reduce counter parties, Don't over complicate

Yesterday we pointed out how the gold market is seeing renewed interest from new, first time gold buyers and gold investors. Concern unites them - they are concerned about the current trajectory of the world - politically, financially, economically, monetarily and environmentally.

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